The illusion of order: observations on the habsburgic myth

Abstract

The paper tackles the construction and perception of crisis in some prominent authors linked to the recreation of the Habsburg myth, as S. Zweig, F. Werfel, J. Roth and R. Musil. First, I attempt to define the scope of poetic representations of the Empire in the first two writers, taking especially into appraise the notion of temporality and spiritual dynamics of Mitteleuropa in late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Secondly, we will focus on Joseph Roth writings in order to highlight the ambivalence of the idea of political order, to which the author bestows a high adoration as a source of historical sense, although he also dooms the effects of technological progress. Finally, Musil’s notion of insufficient reason will provide the framework able to grasp an experience of the crisis that will not lead to nihilism. The main purpose of this paper is to study the poetic side of the political and historical patterns, suggesting a connection between the faculty of judgment, the poetry and the history.